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Fixing the "app is damaged" warning

You downloaded a build, you opened it, and macOS said the app is damaged and should go in the trash. Most of the time the file is fine. The Mac is suspicious of something that arrived from a browser, and the dialog is louder than the fact. Here is what I do on the mini before I download the thing again.

The dialog is a flag

Gatekeeper keeps a note on files that came from the internet. That note is doing its job. Trash is the wrong first move. It throws away the copy you were about to open the right way.

What I do first

Close the dialog. Do not click Move to Trash.
Make sure the app is in Applications, not still inside the disk image. Eject the image.
In Finder, right-click the app and choose Open. Confirm Open on the next dialog. That path can trust this one file.
If it opens, you are done. Launch it once on a save you can stand to copy.

That sequence clears the usual case. I stopped pasting longer recipes into chat.

One attribute, one app

If right-click Open still returns the same warning, the flag is stuck. I clear it for that one app, not for the disk. In Terminal:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Factorio.app

Replace the name. Do not point it at your home folder. Do not run a script that "fixes" every app on the machine. One app, then Open again. If Terminal is not the plan, stay with the right-click path and write me instead.

When I do download again

I download again only if the disk image never opened, or the copy in Applications is an obvious half file from a stalled transfer. Six complete copies will not argue the Mac into a new opinion. One clean copy, in Applications, opened with the right-click, will.

Check the chip

An Intel build on an Apple Silicon Mac, or the other way around, can fail in a way that looks like damage and is not. About This Mac, then the mirror labeled for that chip. Older versions on the program page are there for older systems. Use the line that names your macOS.

If you are still stuck, mail [email protected] with the program name, the version, and the chip line from About This Mac.